What else does Spencer Rattler have to do? He threw for 313 yards and a season-high four touchdown passes — and lost the game.
With 9:25 left in the game, Rattler threw a 33-yard touchdown to Joshua Simon, extending the lead to 37-27. It looked like they may have put the game away. However, the defense let up a touchdown on the next two drives, leading to a 41-37 deficit with 53 seconds left. A last-second effort fell short when a deep shot by Rattler was intercepted. Florida’s punter ran out of the back of the end zone to avoid a blocked punt, which gave Carolina two more points, making the final score 41-39.
With six games left on the schedule, Carolina has to find four wins to become bowl eligible. Two of those games are against lowly Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt. Both games are at home, so for sake of argument, let’s assume they win those games. The other four games are against Missouri and Texas A&M on the road, and Kentucky and Clemson at home. They have to scratch across at least two wins in those games. Each of them will be tough.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the Gamecocks will reach six wins. This past game was the one they needed to win. It seems like a common theme this season that Carolina finds a way to lose games they should win or have a chance at winning. For Spencer Rattler, Xavier Leggette, and the entire offense’s sake, I hope they find a way to become bowl eligible. They have played fantastic this year and deserve to win games. The defense has lagged behind, however, surrendering 31.3 points per game this year. It is unreasonable to ask the Carolina offense to score in the mid-30s every game, so the defense has to pull its weight. We’ll see if that happens next week.
Next up, the Gamecocks will travel to Columbia, MO to take on the 6-1 Missouri Tigers.